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Why Cats Visit the Vet Less Often than Dogs

What is it with people who will take their dog to the vet but won’t take their cat?

Last weekend, when I was sitting at the coffee shop with Cupcake, a man came to sit at the next table with this dog. After Cupcake asked the dog not to get all the way up in her face, the man struck up a conversation, first telling me he was waiting for a first date to arrive. Then he wanted to talk about dogs and cats.

Surprisingly, one of the first questions he asked was, “Do you take that cat to the vet?”

I thought he might be worried that Cupcake was carrying something she could transmit to this dog, and I said, “Of course I do. And she is on flea control.”

“Why? I don’t take my cat at home like I take him.” He gestured to his dog. “My cat is fourteen, and it’s not like he’s sick.”

“How can you tell? A lot of cat ailments start in ways you can’t see until they are really advanced. Like kidney disease. And at your cat’s age, you really need to be concerned about kidneys.”

The man didn’t look convinced. “I’ve always fed him good food. He eats something that is gentle for his system.”

I continued to try to explain it to him. “With your dog going outside, you probably need flea control for your cat.”

“My yard has a really good fence,” he told me.

I stopped arguing. Soon after, the man’s date arrived. As I sat at the next table with Cupcake, he tried to impress his date by telling her date all about the large house in Connecticut just outside New York City he had sold to move to Florida and buy a house outright as well as put his two children through college debt-free.

Cupcake kept an eye on the dog and his date while the man went inside to buy her a cappuccino.

I have no idea whether all of this talk about money impressed his date, but it underscored for me that money wasn’t the reason he was not taking his cat to the vet. He really didn’t believe it was necessary for his cat to see the vet the way his dog did.

Cats Not Visiting the Vet is a Real Problem

This guy at the coffee shop wasn’t alone. Nationally, vets see 5 dogs for every cat, even though there are 85.8 million pet cats and 77.8 million pet dogs.

Cats aren’t getting the same level of care that dogs do. That isn’t fair!

Large with little cat. Image credit: depositphotos/lollok

A survey found that the older cats are, the less likely they are to go to the vet unless they seem to be sick. It sounds like they talked to more people who shared the attitudes of the guy I met on the coffee shop patio.

This is worrisome, since cats are really good at hiding illness in its early stages. Less frequent vet visits as a cat reaches an age where ailments are actually more likely mean those issues will go undiscovered and untreated longer. Annual blood work can catch issues with a cat’s thyroid, liver, or kidneys before they have done silent, irreversible damage.

What’s keeping cats from vet visits?

Most people think their cat hates going to the vet, and they’re probably right. In fact, 38% of cat guardians get stressed just thinking about taking their cat to the vet. No wonder cats aren’t getting to the vet more often!

There are simple things you can do to make the whole situation less stressful on your cat as well as yourself. For instance, if kitty hides when you bring her carrier out of storage, there’s a way to make this easier on everyone.

Cat in carrier. Photo credit: depositphotos/eAlisa

A carrier that only shows up when it’s time to go to the vet is frightening, but a carrier that is part of the usual living room landscape and serves as a place to nap on a regular basis isn’t scary at all. Any carrier can tuck under an end table and have a cozy blanket to make an everyday retreat for a cat so that it’s a familiar place when it’s time to go to the vet or anywhere else.

For high strung cats who are really afraid of the whole vet visit process, you can talk to your vet about giving your cat a dose of gabapentin at home before her appointment so help relieve her anxiety. Vets have seen lots of reluctant cats, and they have helpful suggestions for many situations.

What about the guy who took his dog to the vet but not his cat?

I wish I could say that the guy at the coffee shop had an epiphany and realized he needed to take his senior cat to the vet for the first time since kittenhood. But the truth is, once his date showed up, he only had eyes for her, so I don’t know how that story ended.

I like to think that maybe he’ll take his cat to the vet a little sooner than he would have otherwise after our conversation. I hope I made a difference for his cat, who deserves vet care just as much as his dog does.

Comments

My human knows a lot of responsible cat companions because most of her friends are pretty responsible about getting their cats checkups. In fact, my human hasn’t been to the doctor all year (she does visit the dentist once every 6 months), but we ALL have been on vet visits at least once, and Binga and Boodie, more than that!

“my yard has a really good fence”….that thud was mom hitting her head on her desk.

we tell people – especially new cat owners adopting from the rescue – find a good vet, get in and set up a relationship NOW, and get in at least once a year to be sure nothing is going on. Vet’s need a good baseline of health and you shouldn’t just be showing up on their doorstep when something bad happens.

I owned a dog before I got my 2 cats. My dog lived a long life and got pretty expensive at the end. So I was used to the bills, but I did get sticker shock when I took the 2 cats in for their first annual visit. Of course, that has not stopped me from their visits. One of mine was diagnosed with diabetes, which I never would have considered if I did not have a good Vet relationship. I got insurance a few years ago as they got into their twilight years. It doesn’t pay out much, but it does help a little. In reading this, I wonder if vets offer any sort of multiple-pet discounts? I have never asked. Obviously this guy was not hurting for money – so he was just an idiot.

You are a hero to try. I get bent out of shape with ignorance of that level and used to be I would probably make it worse as I would try to change their mind. Now if I see there is no use whatsoever, I shut up. But I will have tried— in a more reasonable manner.

Aunt Pauline and TW have had that convo a thousand times. Both myself and almost every cat Aunt Pauline has ever owned has regular checkups. Both TW and AP have, however, had a few cats long ago that didn’t and as luck would have it, those cats far outlived the cats who have gone to the vet. She couldn’t take feral Jinx who lived under her bed to the vet but he lived almost 20 years. TW believes the stress to a cat subtracts years from their life. We also have some real quack vets here like the one who heard Autumn purr through the stethoscope and diagnosed a heart murmur and the one who almost killed me.

Sadly, a lot of people have this attitude, and cats get the short end of the stick more often than other animals. Sounds like you handled the situation well and maybe planted a small seed that a senior kitty might benefit from a vet checkup.

unfortunately, cats still have the stigma of being throw away pets like goldfish or hamsters. You buy them and feed them and keep them until they die and you throw them away. Cat owners (on the whole) invest less in vet care, in food, in preventative and in toys and enrichment than dog owners, and I can’t figure out why. I lament that there are so few things for cats vs dogs in most pet stores or departments and it is because people just don’t buy them, so the stores have no incentive to stock them.

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There are no veterinarians here. All health-related posts are the result of research and observation, but educational information is not a substitute for visiting your veterinarian. Do not self-diagnose your cat. For more information, see our disclaimer.